1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to a time signalling device for a timepiece, and more particularly to a time signalling device for a timepiece electronically generating melody sounds or time striking sounds with excellent tone at every right hour and furthermore generating melody sounds or time striking sounds at every 15 minutes after the right hour in case of neccesity.
2. Description of Prior Art
There has been well-known time signalling device generating predetermined time striking sounds at a right hour or a half hour and furthermore generating melody sounds independently or prior to the time striking sounds at the right hour and every quarter hour, and there is a good example of westminster clock in practical use. This type of conventional time signalling device is composed with the mechanical time signalling device generating melody sounds or time striking sounds by means of striking stick bells in predetermined order to produce a plurality of different sounds, and causes the drawbacks of large and complicated structure. According as recent electronization of timepiece, to the time signalling device is applied the electronic sound generating means, and the data of musical notes generated by means of stick bells are memorized in a ROM in a predetermined order so that the sounds can be generated in such order in a similar tone to the sounds produced by the mechanical time signalling device mentioned above by means of reading such data. The such kind of the electronic time signalling device in the prior art generated the melody sounds with much worse tone in comparison with the tone produced by the mechanical time signalling device. It is because in the mechanical time signalling device the struck sound of a stick bell still remains after the next stick bell is struck by a hammer whereas in the electrinic time signalling device the data of the musical notes are output from the ROM in the predetermined order and the previous sounds do not remain. In other cases, the time striking sounds are produced by hammering a plurality of sick bells at the same time in the mechanical time signalling device, but the electronic time signalling device generates only one sound at one time.
The conventional electronic time signalling device has never been considered counter measure for the above mentioned points.